Year 2 Edition 18 6th May 2020 Mt Rouse News & Views
A Project of the Penshurst Mens Shed Inc ANZAC DAY IN PENSHURST
Anzac day offers us a moment to reflect on the fact that freedom is not free, it comes at a price. While the current lockdown meant that RSL could not conduct the usual dawn service at the Cenotaph on Bell Street, at dawn this year a small service was conducted personally by the RSL President at the Cenotaph and wreaths were laid here and at the memorial in the Avenue of Honour on the road to Hamilton. Councillor Cathy Armstrong laid a wreath on the cenotaph later in the morning on behalf of the Southern Grampians Shire Council. It was also pleasing to note that a good number of residents conducted their own driveway services at dawn as had been recommended by the National Office of the RSL.
A wreath was laid on the memorial at the start of the Avenue of Honour
The Cenotaph on the roundabout in Bell Street showing the flag at
half mast and the Wreaths laid earlier in the morning
Wreaths and candles at the base of the Cenotaph. Pa g e 2 M T R O U S E News & Views
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Caramut and District Garden Club I have noticed in some nurseries, punnets of carrot seedlings ready for planting. Carrots hate to be disturbed once they have started to grow, so unless you carefully took the soil and seedlings out to plant as a whole, they will not grow. Even if you managed to plant the carrot seedlings without disturbing the plants, the carrots would be too close together and you would only have tiny carrots. I noticed on the ABC gardening show recently, to thin out carrots, use a pair of scissors and cut out the unwanted plants. If you wish to grow carrots, buy a packet of seed and plant out. The cost is about the same and you will have more carrots to harvest. Mix the fine seed with sand to help space the seeds. Firm down using the palm of your hand and lightly water. This method can be used for all types of seeds. I would suggest you cover any newly planted seeds or seedlings with mesh to stop the birds (or cats) from scratching in the lovely soil and destroying your seeds/plants.
Peas, onions, silver beet, spinach and broad beans can all be planted out now. Also pansy, larkspur, hollyhock, linaria, polyanthus and Iceland poppy.
Instead of burning Autumn leaves, rake up and cover the beds with a thick layer of leaves. These will rot down and make lovely soil and will also stop the weeds from growing. It might take a couple of years to completely eradicate the leaves. I have some onion weed growing in one bed, so covered the area with cardboard before placing the leaves thickly on top. Raking leaves is also an excellent way to keep warm. A good example of a variety of Pansy
“A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long.“ E E Cummings “Autumn is really the best of the seasons; and I'm not sure that old age isn't the best part of life. But of course, like autumn, it doesn't last.“ C S Lewis
“Pansies in soft April rains Fill their stalks with honeyed sap drawn from Earth's prolific lap.“ Bayard Taylor Pa g e 4 M T R O U S E News & Views
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Sammy Scribe’s ‘Did You Know?’
Concerning human endeavour, it is good to remember that:
• Before we discovered and harnessed electricity, electric eels have generated their own electricity at will, up to 700 volts.
• Before we invented electric lights, fireflies were flashing their signals to one another, and certain fish in the ocean depths produce light to guide their travels.
• Long before we learned to navigate the seven seas, birds travelled from the Artic to the
Antarctic, landing at the same nesting sites year after year.
• Before we ever designed and built suspension bridges, spiders demonstrated engineering feats of amazing brilliance. • Bird’s nests display a high level of engineering skill in masonry, weaving, tunnelling, and structural strength necessary to build them. • Bees, with their wings, “air-condition” their hives.
God’s creation is amazing. Pa g e 6 M T R O U S E News & Views
Grab your Takeaway and extras from Josh & Tracy Hewitt at the Penshurst Newsagency & Takeaway 86 Bell Street Penshurst 5576 5330 All Day Breakfast, Home-made cakes & slices Mahalia Coffee, Fresh Bread, Milk, Meat and soft drinks. Fresh battered Fish, Dim Sims, Hot Chips and much more. NEW MENU ITEMS Huge range of focaccias - Egg & Bacon Rolls & Muffins
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Please phone late orders 15 minutes prior to closing, thank you
Thought for every day A person who feels appreciated will always do more than is expected. Cora Howard Pa g e 7 M T R O U S E News & Views
In challenging times we can all use a little inspiration.
Mervyn Napier Waller is still inspiring creativity.
‘An artist draws with his head, not his hands’ by Claire Hunter Artist Napier Waller lost his right arm after being wounded in the fighting at Bullecourt in 1917, but he never lost his love of art.
Determined to continue painting and drawing, Waller taught himself to use his left hand, and went on to become a noted Australian muralist, mosaicist and painter, creating the magnificent mosaics and stained glass in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial.
The Memorial’s Head of Art, Laura Webster, said Waller’s dedication to his art was extraordinary.
“Napier Waller is an important artist to the Memorial,” she said. “The vast mosaics and stained glass windows he created are extraordinary in their innovation, iconography and overwhelming beauty, and sit within the heart of the Memorial.”
Each year millions of people are moved by his work, which surrounds the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, but his own life is also a story of courage and determination.
Born Mervyn Napier Waller at Penshurst in country Victoria in June 1893, Waller left school at 14 to work on the family farm before moving to Melbourne in 1913 to study drawing and painting at the National Gallery schools.
He exhibited watercolours and drawings at the Victorian Artists’ Society in 1915, but decided to put his artistic career on hold to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1915 and trained at Royal Park Camp in Victoria before being transferred to the artillery.
He married fellow art student Christian Yandell in October 1915, and in May the following year embarked on the troopship Medic to complete his military training on Salisbury Plain in England. By the end of 1916, Waller was serving with the 111th Howitzer Battery in France. He used his diary to detail his experiences at the front, complaining of the never-ending cold and mud, and making sketches of the scenes around him.
“Today cold is fearful – beyond words,” he wrote.
“Nearly caught whilst asleep last night: heavy shell fell within yards of trench and threw heaps of dirt upon our tarpaulin cover.
“Travelling is slow and miserable … the drivers must walk for there is ever the danger of being hurt from falling horses. The way is now in deep or steep hills and we pity the horses and then pity ourselves.” Continued page 16 Pa g e 8 M T R O U S E News & Views
‘An artist draws with his head,
not his hands’ (continued)
When Waller was severely wounded at Bullecourt in May 1917, his right arm was amputated at the shoulder. During his convalescence in France and England, he trained himself to write and draw with his left hand, later reflecting that “an artist draws with his head, not his hands”.
After returning to Australia in November 1917, Waller resumed his work as an artist. He completed a series of images called War sketches in black and white, watercolour and oil which were exhibited in 1918 and 1919 in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobart.
Over the next two decades, Waller established himself as a mural artist and mosaicist, undertaking large-scale commissions for the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne and the State Library of Victoria.
He visited Europe in the late 1920s to study stained glass, was deeply impressed by the Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna, Italy, and studied mosaic in Venice. When he returned to Melbourne in 1930, he began to work almost exclusively in stained glass and mosaic. He completed a monumental mosaic for the University of Western Australia in 1931, followed by two important commissions in Melbourne: the mosaic façade for Newspaper House, and the murals for the dining hall in the Myer Emporium.
In 1937, the Memorial invited Waller to design and install the stained glass windows and mosaics for the Hall of Memory. The stained glass windows were installed from 1947 to 1950 and Waller worked on the mosaics from 1955 to 1958. During that time, six million tesserae were attached to sheets of paper for the artwork with the help of his art students and war widows in Melbourne, creating one of the largest single mosaics in the world. Despite having only one arm, Waller was actively involved in the entire process.
Today, Napier Waller is also remembered at the Memorial through a $10,000 art prize named in his honour.
Open to current and former service personnel in the Australian Defence Force, the Napier Waller Art Prize aims to encourage artistic excellence, promote the transformative power of creativity, and raise awareness of the experiences and talent of service personnel. Entries open on Monday 20 April and close on Sunday 7 June 2020.
(https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/napier-waller) Riddles
1. When is a bright idea like a clock? 2. What is that which never uses its teeth for eating purposes? 3. What did the prisoner who was about to be hanged say when he was unexpectedly pardoned? 4. What is the only common four-letter English word that ends in the suffix -eny? 5. A man has 9 children. Half of them are boys. How is this possible?
6. I have cities but no houses, I have mountains but no trees. I have water but no fish. What am I?
Pa g e 9 M T R O U S E News & Views
Committee of Management: Penshurst Progress Ama Cooke – President 0402 870 738 Mark Dalla Costa – Secretary Mary Stewart Association Tom Cooke - Vice President Nigel Pyne ABN 35 622 662 815 Josh Hewitt - Treasurer Don Adamson
Next Meeting: Wednesday 23rd September, 7.30pm in the Supper Room, Penshurst Hall. This is a tentative date which will be changed or confirmed when circumstances allow us to have meetings again.
Covid-19 - a time for reflection time has passed that we forget the distress it
caused when family and friends lost those they With the enforcing of restrictions I’ve treated loved through no fault of their own? Is this this time period as a bit of a rest, allowing me time of forced separation impacting on your to read, and re-read a great many books, catch life, or is it only a small problem? Does it feel up on the filing, and play with the cat. While like months or only moments since this all my family have been stuck in the house for began? And when we pick up the threads of various reasons, which is really normal life for our lives again, will we be the same people that my mother, I have been extra cautious when I we were, or will we learn from the lessons, and do go into Hamilton to shop. The whole become more loving and protective of each process has raised a lot of questions, which I other, not just ourselves. am sure other people are also considering. Wishing you all safe & well .. Ama Cooke How much has the continuing Covid-19 crisis changed your life or the way you view your “Everything in life that we really accept own safety, and the safety of those you love undergoes a change. So suffering and admire? Are you keeping in contact with must become Love. That is the mystery.“ your friends and family through various means, Katherine Mansfield even if its only through landline phone calls? Have you returned to sending letters and look forward to the early morning post? Are you Here’s your opportunity to contribute missing the gatherings you might have once to your town newsletter. taken for granted? Are you planning a few for While activities are quieter than usual during this lockdown, the newsletter is looking for when the restrictions lift? How do you feel contributions from our readers about about the plan to remove some of them events, memories, history and mysteries ‘before’ the virus is conquered, when we can that you might like to share with us. If you see in America and other countries, that can ’t email them, write them down and then ring Ama and we’ll arrange to receive them. removing them too early is only helping a You might have interesting or funny photos, return of a second wave of contagions? While a favourite book or movie to recommend? it might be a wonderful thought to be able to Mark [email protected] roam free again .. how long will we continue to Ama 0402 870 738 appreciate that small privilege when enough Pa g e 10 M T R O U S E News & Views
The Mobile Library Service has been suspended until the end of the Covid-19 lockdown.
If you have any questions relating to any of Southern Grampians Shire Council’s other facilities or services, please contact Council directly on 5573 0444.
We look forward to our return. Pa g e 11 M T R O U S E News & Views
A PAGE TO SHARE RECIPES
A new approach to an old favourite Apricot Chicken Pot Roast Prep time 20 mins - Cooking Time 120 mins
INGREDIENTS - 6 Servings
2kg whole chicken 1 large red capsicum, thickly sliced 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 red onions, cut into wedges 1 lemon, cut into wedges 410g can apricot halves, drained 40g sachet French onion soup mix 1 zucchini, sliced into rounds 2 cups apricot nectar Fresh thyme, to serve 1/4 cup brandy (optional) Fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs, to 3 garlic cloves, crushed serve 6 sprigs fresh thyme Mashed potato, to serve
METHOD Step 1 Drizzle half the oil into a large, heavy-based flameproof casserole dish. Pat chicken dry with paper towel, including cavity. Place chicken in dish. Fill cavity with lemon. Tie up legs with kitchen string. Tuck wings under chicken.
Step 2 Sprinkle chicken with some of the soup mix. Sprinkle remaining soup mix around chicken. Add nectar, brandy, if using, garlic, thyme and 1⁄2 cup cold water to dish. Drizzle chicken with remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.
Step 3 Sprinkle chicken with parsley. Serve with mashed potato.
“I am a vegetarian for health reasons - the health of the chicken. “ - Isaac Bashevis Singer “I want there to be no peasant in my realm so poor that he will not have a chicken in his pot every Sunday. “
- King Henry IV of France
map. A 6. boys, all are they 5. deny, 4.
1. when it strikes one, 2. a comb, 3. no noose is good news, news, good is noose no 3. comb, a 2. one, strikes it when 1. Riddles: to Answers Pa g e 12 M T R O U S E News & Views
Places of interest in penshurst Local Businesses should be aware that the Southern Grampians Shire Council has a Volcanoes Discovery Centre Business Support Group that is available www.volcanoesdiscoverycentre.com.au for assistance and ideas for your business during the COVID 19 lockdown. They can be Yatmerone Wildlife Reserve contacted at [email protected] Ritchie Street, Penshurst or you can call Hugh Koch, Manager Economic Development and Tourism on 0409 797 446 Botanic Gardens for assistance. Chesswas Street, Penshurst
SGSC Links Penshurst Caravan Park Our Response to Covid-19 Cox Street, Penshurst https://www.visitgreaterhamilton.com.au/covid- For Bookings phone (03) 5576 5220 19/?mc_cid=a73c42bfc0&mc_eid=205be053a9
24 Hr Fuel Quick Reference Guide 91A Bell Street Penshurst https://www.visitgreaterhamilton.com.au/quick-
reference-guide/? Mount Rouse Lookout mc_cid=a73c42bfc0&mc_eid=205be053a9 Waller Road, Penshurst Greater Hamilton Business & Tourism Group Volcanoes Discovery Centre News https://www.facebook.com/groups/
greaterhamiltonbusinesssupport/? The Volcanoes Discovery Centre will remain closed in May due to the Covid-19 outbreak. mc_cid=a73c42bfc0&mc_eid=205be053a9
The VDC's management committee made its Business & Tourism Support Hub decision as there has been no change in the https://www.visitgreaterhamilton.com.au/ State Government restrictions regarding essential services. business-support/? mc_cid=a73c42bfc0&mc_eid=205be053a9 Management committee member, Brian O'Brien, said the committee was deciding at Business Support Bulletin (6) PDF the end of each month whether to remain https://www.visitgreaterhamilton.com.au/wp- closed. content/uploads/2020/04/Copy-of-Issue-6- "There are hints that there may be some 17_04_20-COVID-19-Business-Support-Bulletin- easing of restrictions by the Federal .pdf?mc_cid=a73c42bfc0&mc_eid=205be053a9 Government this week and the State Government on May 11, but we will remain closed for May," he said. (type or copy each link into your web browser)
"We will re-assess the situation on May 31 when hopefully the situation will be a lot “Do every act of your life as if it were your last.” clearer than at present." Marcus Aurelius Pa g e 13 M T R O U S E News & Views
A Page for the Children
Fit the little triangles into the larger one to finish this word puzzle.
Count by twos to complete this drawing ...
And a little light colouring in to complete our page
“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself“. George Bernard Shaw
Pa g e 14 M T R O U S E News & Views
Penshurst Church Services All church services are cancelled for the foreseeable future. If you have information about online services that you would like to share with the community, please contact the editor to share details. [email protected] Hamilton Uniting Church is Live Streaming their services. Find it here: https://www.facebook.com/ HAMILTONUNITINGCHURCHLIVESTREAMING
“The difference between utility and utility plus beauty is the difference between telephone wires and the spider web.“ Edwin Way Teale “Birds in their little nest agree; and 'Tis a shameful sight, when children of one family fall out, and chide, and fight.“ Isaac Watts
Please note: All non-essential meetings are cancelled for the immediate future. MONTHLY MEETING DATES
• Book Club, 2nd Tuesday each month at • Penshurst Hospital Ladies Auxiliary, 3rd Senior Citizen club rooms. 2.00pm Tuesday each month, Sheppard Room, Penshurst Hospital at 1.30 pm. • Caramut & District Garden Club, 2nd Tuesday monthly at 10 am. See Garden • Penshurst Playgroup meets every Monday Notes for venue. morning 9.10 am—11.30 am at the pre-school in Watton street. Everyone • Combined Churches service 3rd Tuesday every month in W.J. Lewis most welcome. (No playgroup in School wing at 11 am. holidays) • Penshurst Pony Club rally, 1st Sunday • Courthouse open 1st Saturday each month 9.30 am to 1230 pm. each month. • Penshurst Senior Citizens meet last • Friends Yatmerone Reserve, 2nd Tuesday monthly, 4 pm at club rooms in Tuesday each month at Volcano Centre Bell Street. Novelty Bingo, last Tuesday of 7.30 pm. New members welcome. month Feb—Nov at 2.15 pm. Cards & • Indoor bowls 2 pm every Monday at social afternoon, 2nd Wednesday Senior Citizens. All Welcome. monthly at 2pm • Lions, 1st & 3rd Tuesday each month • Penshurst Urban Fire Brigade, 2nd at 8 pm. Monday monthly at fire station. • Mt Rouse & District Historical Society, • Residents, Relatives & Carers group, 4th Sunday in January, March, May, Tuesday bi-monthly, 1:30 pm at Hospital. July, September and November, 2pm • RSL meets 1st Thursday of February, April, at Court House. Phone 557 12145. July & October at 6.30 pm at RSL Hall, • Penshurst Bowls Club, 1st Tuesday Ritchie Street. each month at 7.30 pm. Pa g e 15 M T R O U S E News & Views
Mt Rouse Puzzler - Just how puzzled can you get
Somewhere in the newsletter is a saying that includes the coded message above. Can you
decipher it or find a clue by for it.
… … These Pentagon Arithmagons are a challenge a are challenge These Pentagon Arithmagons Pa g e 16 M T R O U S E News & Views
Pa g e 17 M T R O U S E News & Views
PENSHURST Penshurst’s Website
MENS SHED Have you visited the Penshurst
website yet? The Men’s Shed is closed
Not only is the site full of valuable until further notice. information, but there are We intend to continue to bring links to many of the important you the fortnightly newsletter organisations within our town. available from Penshurst’s Would you like to add a link Newsagent & Takeaway, to your website? Email Supermarket & Liquor store & Café.
[email protected] If you have any stories you would like to
Visit our site share, please contact Mark or Ama by phone or email. www.penshurstvictoria.com.au Mark Dalla Costa and let us know if you have any comments. [email protected] Ama Cooke 0402 870 738 Ed itor
Published by Penshurst Mens Shed Incorporated ABN 56 257 756 133 VMSA No: 301039 “Mt Rouse News & Views Community Newsletter” Is the registered business name of the Penshurst Mens Shed Newsletter Registered Address: 46 Watton Street, Penshurst 3289
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS — 16th May 2020 The newsletter will be published on Wednesday fortnightly and we would appreciate submissions at the earliest possible time within the fortnight but no later than the Saturday immediately prior to the Wednesday of publishing. Edi tor: Mark Dalla Costa All correspondence to: [email protected]
Also available in colour online at http://www.penshurstvictoria.com.au/Penshurst&20Newsletter.html
Newsletter Advertising Rates (Per Issue) Full page $20 1/2 page $10 1/3 page $7.50 1/4 page $5 Business Card $3 Pa g e 18 M T R O U S E News & Views
Tail End Tales
With Mothers Day coming up next Sunday we thought it timely to remind you of what your mother taught you. My Mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE “If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.” My Mother taught me RELIGION “You had better pray that stain will come out of the carpet.” My Mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL “If you don’t straighten up I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week.” My Mother taught me LOGIC “Because I say so, that’s why.” My Mother taught me FORESIGHT “Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident.” My Mother taught me IRONY “Keep crying and I’ll give you something to cry about.” My Mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM “just look at that dirt on the back of your neck.” My Mother taught me about HYPOCRISY “if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate.” My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION “just wait until we get home.” My Mother taught me about RECEIVING “You are going to get it from your father when he gets home.” My Mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE “if you don’t stop crossing your eyes they will get stuck that way” My Mother taught me GENETICS “You’re just like your father.” My Mother taught me WISDOM “when you get to my age you’ll understand.”